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Despina Papps

• University of Adelaide South Australian Merit Scholarship
• University of Adelaide South Australian Principal's Scholarship

My name is Despina Papps and I am in my first year of the Bachelor of Medicine/Bachelor of Surgery degree. I was born in Adelaide and currently live with my parents and four siblings.

I commenced at Seymour College in 2001 as a Year 7 student and completed my SACE in 2006. Throughout my schooling years, I participated in a range of co-curricular activities and was involved in debating, public speaking, soccer, singing, musicals, choirs and the Student Representative Council as joint President. In my spare time, I also volunteered with the Flinders Medical Centre Volunteer Service. I still enjoy playing sport and singing, and am involved with the Adelaide Medical Students' Society as a first-year representative.

Medicine has always appealed to me as it combines the science of the body with patient care and the University of Adelaide is the only university in South Australia to offer the MBBS as an undergraduate course. I have always wanted to be a part of the university's distinguished reputation and proud tradition.

Earlier this year I was awarded a University of Adelaide South Australian Merit Scholarship for achieving a TER of 99.95 and the University of Adelaide South Australian Principals' Scholarship for my school, Seymour College. Associated with these scholarships are monetary awards of ten thousand and five thousand dollars respectively.

As a seventeen year old still living at home, these scholarships have certainly been very helpful. Studying medicine is demanding and time-consuming, and this financial assistance has allowed me to reduce my working hours at my part-time job to focus on my university studies.

I hope to graduate from the university in 2012, after which I will then have to complete an intern year at one of the teaching hospitals. Eventually I would like to undergo specialty training, and whilst cardiology and dermatology are of particular interest to me, I am still undecided as to the direction that my medical career will take.